Bo Callaway, credited with resurrecting the Republican Party in Georgia and known in Colorado for his U.S. Senate race and ownership of the Crested Butte ski resort, has died.

Former Republican Party Chairman Dick Wadhams served as the driver for Callaway’s Senate campaign. He recalled the 1980 GOP primary as one of the “most colorful primaries in Colorado’s political history,” with Republicans believing they had shot of unseating Democrat Gary Hart.

“By 2010, when the GOP swept every statewide office for the first time, Callaway’s name was spoken with reverence, as the father of the Georgia Republican Party and its first superstar,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote.

Tributes continue for former lawmaker Ken Gordon, a Denver Democrat who died of an apparent heart attack Sunday at the age of 63. From Dick Wadhams, former chairman of The Colorado Republican Party:

Ken Gordon

“I was state director for Sen. Bill Armstrong in 1987 during the debate over President Reagan’s support for the Nicaraguan Contra rebels against the Sandinista regime. During a huge protest in front of our office in Cherry Creek by a large number of University of Colorado students, several were arrested by Denver police for throwing animal blood on our building as part of their street theater opposing American intervention in Nicaragua.

“Ken Gordon ended up representing the arrested students pro bono in Denver County Court. He successfully argued a ‘choice of evils’ defense by saying the students had no choice but to break the law in view of the bloodshed in Nicaragua and were merely using their right to free speech by throwing animal blood on the building.

“The Denver jury found the students innocent of all the charges. My thought at the time, and still remains, only in Denver or Boulder could such a verdict occur! But, I had to hand it to Ken Gordon that he argued an effective case even if I did strongly disagree with it.”

Owens and Rep. Cristana Duran, a Denver Democrat, were among the politicos who included pictures of their dogs on their Christmas cards. Duran adopted her dog from the Colorado Puppy Rescue the weekend before session ended and brought him to the Capitol the last two days.

I have to admit I’m still a little stunned to open a card from former GOP chairman Dick Wadhams showing him pictured with a pussy cat.

Rep. Crisanta Duran, D-Denver, shows off Coco as he looked earlier this year on the House floor and as he looks now.

Dick Wadhams, former Colorado GOP chair, has concerns over the state hosting the 2016 Republican National Convention

Not all Republicans are thrilled at the prospects of the GOP National Convention coming to Colorado in 2016.

Dick Wadhams, former Colorado GOP head, said Tuesday it could do more harm than good when it came to Republicans taking back power in the state – especially with respect to statewide elections for governor and the U.S. Senate. A Republican hasn’t won those seats since 2002.

“The stakes are so high for Colorado Republicans next year, and to devote time, money and resources to a national convention could divert attention that needs to be focused here,” he said. “I’m very concerned about it.”

Current GOP chair Ryan Call said that the he understood the perspective from some that the “convention may present a conflict for resources, but we believe the net benefit … will be positive.”

“The Colorado Republican State Central Committee was scheduled to meet at 3 that afternoon at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in downtown Denver — the site is now a parking lot directly east of the Brown Palace Hotel — with a state party dinner to follow that evening,” Wadhams said.

Yard signs supporting the recall of Senate President John Morse await pickup at recall headquarters in Colorado Springs. (Photo by Lynn Bartels)

How could I have missed this gem from the Onion on campaign yard signs, which trigger debates on their effectiveness and oodles of complaints about thefts?

The Onion’s 2010 piece — that I recently ran across, thanks to Republican Andy George — will leave campaign managers everywhere in stitches:

Yard Sign With Candidate’s Name On It
Electrifies Congressional Race

JASPER, IN — A blue corrugated plastic sign bearing the name of candidate Todd Young has invigorated and galvanized voters in southeastern Indiana’s 9th District congressional race, catapulting the Republican to an all but insurmountable lead over his opponent, Democratic incumbent Baron Hill.

“Frankly, I can’t envision any scenario in which Baron Hill can recover from this,” political strategist Mary Matalin said on Meet The Press Sunday, adding that it was an inspired and ingenious decision to include both the first and last name of the candidate on the sign. “Yes, the bold capital letters capture our imagination, but they also assure voters that Todd Young will meet all political challenges with indomitable vigor and integrity.”

Former Colorado GOP chairman Dick Wadhams has an unbelievable collection of newspaper clippings, including a New York Times piece on his one-time boss, U.S. Sen. Bill Armstrong, talking in 1983 about a subject that’s timely today: the debt ceiling.

The article took a look at the freshman senator from Colorado and his brand of conservatism.

In one sense the Senator is a missionary, preaching the gospel of fiscal rectitude to the heathens on Capitol Hill. But, in another sense, he is a pragmatist who knows how to count votes and when to accept a deal.

Others who admire Senator Armstrong feel that he has chosen the wrong fight. Since Republicans run the Senate, they say, the party has a responsibility to pass the debt limit legislation, no matter how unpleasant the task. As (one GOP senator) put it, ”If you’re in the majority, you have to make the place run.”

Republicans Bernie Herpin with his wife Linda and George Rivera with his wife Kathryn at a Colorado GOP reception tonight near Aurora. Herpin and Rivera will become state senators next month. (Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post)

Former University of Colorado Regent Paul Schauer, his wife, Cyndy, and former Arapahoe County GOP chairman Dave Kerber at a state GOP reception tonight. (Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post)

The Colorado GOP can’t get enough of Bernie Herpin and George Rivera, two state senators-elect who have given Republicans much to cheer about as they head into 2014.

The pair, who take office next month, were honored tonight at a reception on the eve of the party’s state central committee meeting Saturday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel off Interstate 70 and Chambers. The reception also featured Emily Miller, author of Emily Gets Her Gun and senior opinion editor for the Washington Times.

UPDATE:The hotel has reminded the state party that no outside food is allowed. The party earlier contracted with the hotel to provide “breakfast snacks and beverages.”

GOP chairman Ryan Call.

A group of Republicans upset with state GOP Chairman Ryan Call suggested party members attending a meeting in Denver Saturday bring boxed chicken lunches as a sign of protest against Call and a sign of support for two state lawmakers criticized for their poultry politics.

The boxed-chicken lunch proposal is one of 14 complaints outlined in “plan of action” e-mail about Saturday’s Central Republican Committee meeting, where the party typically handles routine matters. Saturday’s meeting begins at 9 a.m. and is at the Crown Plaza Hotel in east Denver.

“Get the chicken the night before and bring it with you in the box so the protest is obvious,” the e-mail states.

The e-mail, obtained by The Denver Post, shows it was sent from an account belonging to Lana Fore-Warkocz, secretary of the state party. It was signed “Jen” and included a phone number that belongs to Jen Raiffe, third vice chairman of the Adams County Republican Party. Neither responded to requests for comment. Raiffe did not respond to a request for comment; Fore-Warkocz sent a written statement after this blog appeared. It appears at the end of this post.

“A review of Colorado political history going back 42 years shows a very competitive state that has tilted Democratic in statewide elections for governor and U.S. senator,” said Wadhams, former Colorado Republican Party chairman.

Rick Palacio, chairman of the Colorado Democratic Party, made a similar observation after the Rothenberg Report recently moved Gov. John Hickenlooper’s re-election bid next year from “Safe” to “Democrat favored.”

The latest source of ire for Wadhams came from the Daily Beast’s Tina Brown, who wrote after observing Hickenlooper last week that if Hillary Clinton runs in 2016 she should tap him as her running mate.

“After decades as a Republican-leaning stronghold, Obama won the state twice and the State House and Senate are now controlled by Dems,” Brown wrote in a piece that Wadhams described as a “love affair for Hickenlooper.”

“When one considers elections for Governor and U.S. Senator, Colorado has not been a ‘Republican-leaning stronghold’ since 1972!!!!” Wadhams wrote in an e-mail after I posted Brown’s piece on The Spot.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.